---
title: Predict brain stimulation easing freezing
nct_id: NCT06951906
phase: PHASE4
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Medical University of South Carolina
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06951906"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06951906"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:03:31.816Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Predict brain stimulation easing freezing

**Goal (in five words):** Predict brain stimulation easing freezing

**Official Title:** Imaging Biomarkers of Freezing of Gait Response to Deep Brain Stimulation

**Trial ID:** [NCT06951906](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06951906)

## Key Facts

- **Phase:** PHASE4
- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Medical University of South Carolina
- **Target Enrollment:** 54 participants
- **Start Date:** 2024-11-11
- **Completion Date:** 2029-11
- **Conditions:** Freezing of Gait Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease, Deep Brain Stimulation
- **Interventions:** fMRI
- **Intervention Types:** DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

## Summary For Families

The goal is to identify brain imaging markers that predict whether subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation will help with freezing of gait in people with Parkinson's. The team uses fMRI to map brain activity linked to freezing and to the response to DBS, while the DBS itself delivers continuous electrical pulses to the subthalamic nucleus to modulate abnormal motor circuits, often improving tremor and motor fluctuations and sometimes allowing lower levodopa doses, though effects on freezing can vary. The study is for adults over 40 with Parkinson's by UK Brain Bank criteria who have documented freezing of gait and have been clinically selected for STN-DBS at MUSC; people with non-PD gait problems, inability to complete OFF-state gait tests, MRI contraindications, or non-3T MRI compatible DBS devices are excluded.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 40 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

1. \>40 years of age.
2. diagnosis of PD based on UK Brain Bank diagnostic criteria.
3. presence of FOG, defined as a score of 1 on part 1 of the nFOGQ and confirmed by objective evaluation (a score of 1 represents a positive response of having experienced such an episode over the last month).
4. clinically selected at the MUSC DBS Conference to undergo STN-DBS surgery.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. a history of other significant gait impairment unrelated to PD (e.g. orthopedic deformities).
2. inability to complete gait assessments (timed-up-and-go task) in the OFF state without assistance or assist devices.
3. contraindications to MRI, including inability to lie supine in the scanner environment, pregnancy, and non-MRI compatible metal implants.
4. implantation of non-3 T MRI-compatible DBS devices.
```

## Locations (1)

- Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States _(32.7763, -79.9327)_
  - Niloufar Malakouti, M.D. — (CONTACT) — 843-792-0235 — malakout@musc.edu
  - Mahdi Sowlat, M.D. — (CONTACT) — 8438766410 — sowlat@musc.edu
  - Gonzalo J. Revuelta, MS, DO, FANA — (PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR)

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06951906*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT06951906*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06951906*